Celebrating Smiles at Bladon

This week at Bladon House School we celebrated the Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS) awareness day. SMS is a genetic disability due to a microdeletion or abnormality of chromosome 17. Common features include: characteristic, yet subtle, facial appearance, infant feeding problems, low muscle tone, developmental delay, sleep disturbance, self-injurious behaviours, prolonged tantrums, explosive outbursts, speech/language delay, ear infections, arm hugging/hand squeezing and decreased sensitivity to pain.

Individuals with SMS are often known for their big, bright, loving, happy personalities and a smile that is simply infectious! At Bladon we have 2 students with an SMS diagnosis, but everyone was keen in showing us their smiles.

We have spread the smiles around site to raise the spirits of everyone during this challenging time. At same time our students have reflected about what makes them unique during activities in the Student Voice.

You can find further information regarding SMS at www.prisms.org or www.smith-magenis.org.